Heat Volleyball Sweeps the Floor with Cougars

(Photo Credit: Greystoke Photography)

Building on Friday night's success, both the UBC Okanagan's women's and the men's volleyball teams took down the University of Regina Cougars for the second night in a row.

The men had their second win of the season Friday night, beating the Cougars in three straight sets. The first set was a confident victory for the Heat, taking it 25-18. The second, however, was more of a challenge, with 14 tie scores and five lead changes. At one point, the Cougars came back from the Heat leading 19-14 with an 8-2 run. Though Regina had four set points, they couldn't quite finish it off. A kill from Joshua Harvey and back-to-back attack errors gave the second set to the Heat, 29-27.

(Photo Credit: Greystoke Photography)

The third set saw the Heat with a five-point lead, but the Cougars came back to tie the set at 24-24. The teams traded points, but a successful block and Lars Bornemann's match-leading 14th kill gave the Heat both the set and the match at 27-25.

Joshua Harvey and Kyle Pankratz each had eight kills, following Bornemann. Kristof Schlagintweit made 34 assists for the Heat, and Jeremy Fostvelt had 11 digs. "We finally [won] some late stretch battles," said coach Greg Poitras. "We remained calm under pressure for the most part." When asked whether this weekend sweep was a turning point for the previously winless team, Poitras said, "I don't think we are overly satisfied with the level we are playing at yet. Some confidence was built with the sweep [though]." The Heat are now 2-12 for the season.

(Photo Credit: Greystoke Photography)

The No. 3-ranked women's team also beat the Cougars for their second night in a row, marking their sixth straight win. The game wasn't pretty though, with the Cougars taking note from Friday's loss to lead 16-11 at the first set's technical timeout. The Heat came back with an 11-4 rally to get a one-point lead, then breaking a 23-23 tie to win the set 25-23.

The Heat were more dominant in the second set, never falling behind the Cougars. They broke an early tie and led the rest of the set to win 25-20. The third set saw big leads of 20-8 and 32-12 for UBC Okanagan, but the Cougars rallied with 10 straight points to be only one behind the Heat. However, a kill by UBC Okanagan's Brianna Beamish made the set 24-22, with the Heat eventually winning 25-23 for three straight sets.

(Photo Credit: Greystoke Photography)

Katie Wuttunee, the Canada West hitting percentage leader, had 12 kills on 17 attacks, finishing the game with a .588 hitting percentage. Brianna Beamish had nine kills and Kaitlynn Given had six. Both Emily Oxland and Chandler Proch had 18 assists. The Heat jumped to 10-4 for the season, with Regina at 3-9.

Both the men's and the women's teams will host the MacEwan Griffins next weekend for their last home games of 2014.

(Photo Credit: Greystoke Photography)